Tesfaye Urgessa interview: meet Venice’s Ethiopian Pavilion artist

As the selected artist for the first-ever Ethiopian Pavilion at a Venice Art Biennale, Tesfaye Urgessa’s commission comes with more than the average amount of pressure. Urgessa, however, is taking it in his stride, appreciating the timing of the project, which coincides with a personal and professional full circle. After beginning his career in Ethiopia, studying under painter Tadesse Mesfin, he enrolled in the Staatlichen Akademie in Stuttgart, a move that saw him hone a style that juxtaposes Western and African references. He has since returned to his hometown, Addis Ababa.

‘It was when I went to Germany that I decided to become an artist,’ says Urgessa. ‘I was influenced by the situation and what was happening around me, but also by the art and the artists. I felt free to take [from this].’

Ethiopian Pavilion artist Tesfaye Urgessa on ritual, race and identity

It marked the beginning of his distinctive aesthetic, marrying Ethiopian symbols and motifs with vivid outlines inspired by German neo-expressionism, in work which imbues the domestic routines of the quotidian with a spirituality. ‘My influence is the day-to-day life, there is always that aspect,’ he adds. ‘You see a kind of ritual, but you’re not exactly sure what kind. It’s one of the core parts of my painting right now, to give that majesty, [with subjects] sitting very straight.’